Palace says VP Sara should’ve responded to confi funds issue before 

Malacañang on Tuesday said Vice President Sara Duterte should have discussed her use of confidential funds earlier, amid her saying—after the articles of impeachment against her had been archived—that she had wanted the evidence presented at the trial.

''Noon pa po dapat niya ginawa. Noon pa lang dapat nalinis na po sa COA pa lang noong nagkaroon ng AOM, bago pa nagkaroon ng notice of disallowance, dapat ay naipaliwanag na nang maayos,'' Castro said in a briefing when asked for reaction on the Vice President's remarks that she will explain her side in a proper forum.

(She should have done it earlier. This should have been tackled before the Commission on Audit, when there was audit observation memorandum, long before the notice of disallowance was issued.) 

''Hindi na darating ito sa impeachment proceedings kung naging maliwanag lamang ang kaniyang pag-i-explain lalo na ng kaniyang mga tauhan na mula yata sa accountant hanggang kay Attorney Zuleika Lopez ay walang alam kung papaano nagastos ang confidential funds niya,'' she added.

(This would not have resulted in impeachment proceedings if her explanation had been clear, including the explanation of her personnel, particularly lawyer Zuleika Lopez, who seemed to have no knowledge of how she used her confidential funds.) 

The Senate last week voted to archive the articles of impeachment against Duterte. In response, Duterte urged respect for the ruling by the Senate, and said she had wanted the pieces of evidence from both the prosecution and the defense presented in an impeachment trial.

Some lawmakers responded to this remark, saying that there is nothing stopping her from explaining her fund use. — BM, GMA Integrated News